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IHMC unveils expansion plans

The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition will expand its downtown Pensacola research facility by adding a three-story, 30,000-square-foot addition, and expanding and renovating the existing building.

The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition will expand its downtown Pensacola research facility by adding a three-story, 30,000-square-foot addition, and expanding and renovating the existing building.

“We’re growing, and we need more room,” IHMC Director and CEO Ken Ford said Friday. “We’re really pleased to see the plans finally coming together. We love being in downtown Pensacola and couldn’t be happier about being part of its continued growth.”

The $8 million expansion will more than double IHMC’s existing space, allowing consolidation of research and administrative functions at the main campus at 40 S. Alcaniz Street in the Seville Historic District, and allow for future growth.

IHMC’s operations are currently spread over four separate sites in downtown, institute spokesman Carl Wernicke said.

The three-story addition will be on Romana Street, behind the current facility, on land IHMC owns between Alcaniz and Florida Blanca streets.

The building’s facade will be reminiscent of the old brick warehouses that used to dominate the area while serving the Port of Pensacola.

“We’re working very hard to make the project blend into the historic neighborhood,” said architect Carter Quina of Quina Grundhoefer Architects, the Pensacola firm handling the project.

“We’re using brick, steel and concrete — all historical materials used in the area, and adding glass to allow natural daylight inside and to make the interior accessible to the public,” Quina said.

While not required, the addition will respect building heights written for the nearby Aragon residential district, Quina said. The first floor of the new building will consist largely of research labs, including an expanded robotics lab and a multi-sensory interfaces lab focused on sensory displays and human-machine interfaces.

The second floor will feature a glass-walled observation area for public tour groups and others to observe the robotics lab safely and without interfering with the work.

The lab is a popular tour destination for schools and other visitors. The third floor will hold additional offices, conference rooms and research space.

The construction, expected to begin in April 2014, will proceed in two phases, the first to be the needed expansion of the lecture hall in the current main office building.

In addition to IHMC internal events, the facility is used as a public meeting room for a wide range of community organizations and for IHMC’s popular Lecture Series, which is open to the public.

The lecture hall hosts some 300 events a year. It will be expanded to a seating capacity of more than 300 people.

What’s more, the new building will be elevated to avoid the flooding problems that affected IHMC during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It will house sensitive electronic and computer infrastructure.

A required archaeological survey already has been conducted, and the plans received conceptual approval from the City of Pensacola’s Architectural Review Board on Dec. 19.

Construction is expected to begin by early spring, with completion scheduled for early 2015.

The project is being funded with a loan secured through Escambia County. IHMC is solely responsible for repayment of the loan. In November, the Escambia County Commission gave final approval to borrow up to $12 million on behalf of the institute.

The county can secure a low 3.04 percent interest rate on the loan, making it advantageous for IHMC.

The institute is putting up land and property as collateral and also would put forward a year of debt service as a cash bond to the county.

IHMC is a research organization that specializes in technological systems aimed at amplifying and extending human cognitive and physical capacities.